Abortion

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many abortions were notified as being carried out in England in each year since 2000 on women whose normal place of residence was (a) France, (b) Germany, (c) Italy, (d) Ireland, (e) Spain, (f) Israel, (g) Malta, (h) the Isle of Man, and (i) the United States.

Earl Howe: The information requested in provided in the following table:
	
		
			 Abortions carried out in England and Wales by selected country of residence, 2000-10. 
			 Country of residence 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 
			 France 299 199 176 109 53 38 41 31 60 46 57 
			 Germany 48 33 46 25 16 19 18 12 16 17 12 
			 Italy 416 389 302 294 266 232 202 137 150 161 145 
			 Northern Ireland 1528 1577 1391 1318 1280 1164 1295 1343 1173 1123 1101 
			 Ireland 6391 6673 6522 6320 6217 5585 5042 4686 4600 4422 4402 
			 Spain 32 17 35 36 33 27 13 25 29 18 12 
			 Israel 0 0 0 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 
			 Malta 67 57 69 47 67 54 55 69 38 78 51 
			 Isle of Man 177 139 170 134 152 161 124 135 135 111 128 
			 United States of America 29 35 21 20 18 26 20 15 13 10 11 
		
	
	Notes
	.. Suppressed value less than 10 (between 0 and 9). From 2003, small numbers were suppressed for reasons of confidentiality and in line with Office for National Statistics guidance on the release of abortion statistics, 2005

Abortion

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of women who had an abortion in (a) 2009, and (b) 2010, were married at the time of the abortion; what was the modal (1) age of the women, (2) length of gestation of the pregnancy, (3) number of previous children born to the women, and (4) number of previous abortions undergone by the women; and what was cited as the most common legal ground under which such abortions were performed.

Earl Howe: The information requested is provided in the following table:
	
		
			 Most likely* conditions for women having abortions in 2009, residents of England and Wales. 
			  Proportion of all abortions that were to married women** (%) Age (in years) Gestation (in weeks) Number of previous children Number of previous abortions Ground 
			 England and Wales 15 20 7 0 0 C 
		
	
	
		
			 Most likely* conditions for women having abortions in 2010, residents of England and Wales. 
			  Proportion of all abortions that were to married women** (%) Age Gestation Number of previous children Number of previous abortions Ground 
			 England and Wales 16 20 7 0 0 C 
		
	
	Notes:
	* statistical mode (highest frequency)
	** includes women in a civil partnership
	Ground C: that the pregnancy has not exceeded its 24th week and that the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated, of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman

Armed Forces: Libya

Lord Hoyle: To ask Her Majesty's Government what has been the total cost or estimated cost of the intervention in Libya; and what has been the expenditure or estimated expenditure by each of the three armed services.

Lord Astor of Hever: It is too early to give a robust estimate of the costs of the operations in Libya; however we expect they should be modest compared with some other operations, such as Afghanistan. As the Chancellor of the Exchequer has made clear, the additional costs of operations in Libya will be fully met from the reserve.

Bahrain

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have made, or intend to make, representations to the Government of Bahrain over the death sentences given to Ali Abduallah al-Sarkis and Abdulaziz Abdulridha Hussain.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The UK is gravely concerned by the death sentences given to Ali Abduallah al-Sarkis and Abdulaziz Abdulridha Hussain. Our ambassador in Bahrain raised our concerns when he met the Bahraini Minister for Justice on 4 May. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office also issued a statement on 30 April condemning the original sentencing of four protestors. We support Bahrain's right to bring to justice those responsible for the death of two policemen. However it is our long-standing policy to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances. It undermines human dignity, there is no conclusive evidence of its deterrent value, and any miscarriage of justice leading to its imposition is irreversible and irreparable. We will continue to oppose its use in Bahrain.

Benefits

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people were registered as unemployed and claiming jobseeker's allowance in each of the London Boroughs and the City of London in each year from 1996 until the last year for which records are available.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

British Pregnancy Advice Service

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government why the British Pregnancy Advisory Service was originally invited to sit on the new sexual health forum to replace the Independent Advisory Group on Sexual Health and HIV; why the invitation was then withdrawn; and what skills qualify the Life Organisation to participate in the forum.

Earl Howe: The sexual health forum was established to provide advice to Government on a range of issues concerning sexual health. A number of organisations representing different sectors of sexual health were invited to join. As they have similar interests, Marie Stopes International (MSI) and the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) were offered shared membership; this was declined. We subsequently invited MSI to represent independent sector abortion providers and they have accepted. At the same time, we took the opportunity to review the membership of the forum and agreed to invite LIFE and the Association of Directors of Social Services to join.
	It is important that a wide range of views and interests are represented on the forum. LIFE has been in existence for 40 years and has extensive experience of providing support to vulnerable and disadvantaged groups. It will complement the range of organisations already present on the forum.
	There will be opportunities for other organisations, including BPAS, to become involved in a meeting of the wider sexual health forum, which we are planning to hold in the autumn.

Care Homes: Southern Cross

Lord Campbell-Savours: To ask Her Majesty's Government on which dates since 2005 the Primrose House Care facility managed by Southern Cross has been subject to inspections by (a) the Commission for Social Care Inspection, and (b) the Care Quality Commission.

Earl Howe: The following information has been provided by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
	Inspections took place at Primrose House Nursing Home as follows:
	Under the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI):
	24.08.2005: unannounced inspection;07.02.2006: unannounced inspection; 28.11.2006: unannounced inspection; 08.01.2008: unannounced inspection; and 12.11.2008: key inspection.
	Under the Care Quality Commission:
	28.10.2009: key inspection.
	All these reports are available on the CQC website.
	Key inspections of services were carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 registration methodology. They were a full assessment of the service after which CSCI would award a quality rating.

Care Homes: Southern Cross

Lord Campbell-Savours: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, following the unannounced inspection of Primrose House on 8 January 2008, the requirements for (a) the recording and management of complaints, (b) staff training in challenging behaviour, and (c) protection from harm, were issued to all care facilities in the Southern Cross Group; and, if not, why not.

Earl Howe: The following information has been provided by the Care Quality Commission.
	Requirements for these areas were not issued to all Southern Cross Services in January 2008. It would not be usual working practice to issue requirements to all services on the basis of an inspection of one service. However, complaints handling, staff training and improvements to safeguarding were all areas that were discussed at national level with Southern Cross by the Commission for Social Care Inspection's national provider relationship manager during meetings in 2008.

Care Homes: Southern Cross

Lord Campbell-Savours: To ask Her Majesty's Government on what date Cheshire County Council (a) suspended placements at the Southern Cross facility at Primrose Hill, and (b) announced its review of all Southern Cross care facilities in Cheshire; what were the results of that review; and whether those results were fully considered by the Care Quality Commission.

Earl Howe: The following information has been provided by Cheshire County Council.
	On the 22 May 2008, Southern Cross voluntarily suspended all placements into Primrose House.
	This suspension was agreed due to concerns uncovered by professionals from Cheshire County Council.
	Cheshire County Council has not carried out a specific review of all Southern Cross facilities throughout Cheshire. However, all homes will have been visited by professionals from Cheshire County Council as part of the ongoing monitoring programme implemented and conducted by Cheshire County Council, and it is continuing its close liaison with the Care Quality Commission on these matters.

Civil Service Year Book

Lord Rogan: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they propose to publish the new edition of the Civil Service Year Book.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The information contained in the Civil Service Year Book has been made available in an online form through the publication of departmental organograms and the data supporting them. The organograms are available from departmental websites and the underlying data used to produce them can be found on www.data.gov.uk where they are published in a reusable format.

Developing Countries: Tax Evasion

Lord Boateng: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they propose to take to implement the coalition agreement on strengthening Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development measures on country by country reporting to reduce tax evasion by multi-national companies operating in Africa and other developing economies.

Lord Sassoon: Work by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Tax and Development Task Force on the costs and benefits of country-by-country reporting is ongoing. The Government support this work and hope it will provide solid, practical evidence which we can use to assess different approaches to transparency.

Energy: Wind Farms

Lord Sharkey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had in the past 12 months with the Vestas company about wind farms in the United Kingdom.

Lord Marland: My honourable friend the Minister for Energy attended a meeting with Vestas and other companies on 19 May, at which a wide range of issues related to the development of the UK wind energy sector were discussed. Vestas representatives were also in attendance at the Renewable UK onshore supply chain event held on 8 June and at a PRASEG event on 13 June, where my honourable friend was speaking and which was also attended by government officials. As with many companies in the renewable energy sector, government officials also maintain informal contact with the company on a wide range of energy-related issues.

Equality

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Wallace of Saltaire on 26 April (WA 44), how many of the 27,000 public bodies subject to the duty under Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations, have more than 150 employees; and what estimate they have made of additional costs to public authorities in collating and publishing the required workforce diversity information.

Baroness Verma: We estimate that there are around 1,500 public authorities that have more than 150 employees. The proposed regulations remove some previous process requirements. We therefore estimate that there will be no additional costs to public authorities.

Forced Marriage

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of forced marriages which occur in the United Kingdom annually; and what plans they have to amend the Forced Marriages Act 2007, to make the forcing of a person into a marriage a criminal offence.

Baroness Browning: In 2010 the Forced Marriage Unit provided advice or support related to a possible forced marriage in 1735 instances. The Forced Marriage Unit assists anyone facing forced marriage, or already subject to forced marriage, in the United Kingdom and British nationals in this situation abroad.
	There were 469 cases of forced marriage, where active assistance was given by the Forced Marriage Unit. Two hundred and forty were assistance cases (84 in the United Kingdom) and 229 were reluctant sponsor cases. This is considered to only represent a small number of actual instances, as research commissioned by the Department for Education has estimated that the national prevalence of reported cases of forced marriage in England was between 5,000 and 8,000.
	The Government are currently considering all the recommendations of the recently published House of Commons Home Affairs Committee report on forced marriage, including criminalising forcing or participating in forcing someone to marry, and will publish their response in due course.

Gangmasters

The Duke of Montrose: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Henley on 6 June (WA 43), whether they consider the combined annual registration and inspection fee for Gangmasters in Band D to be proportionate for those who employ one or two unskilled workers.

Lord Henley: The level of fee is set by the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) after consultation with the industry and any change must be agreed by the Secretary of State. The licence fee in band D has remained at £400 since 2007 and covers the cost of processing the application and issuing a licence.
	The one-off fee for a new licence application inspection was raised from £1,600 to £1,850 in 2008, and remains at this level. No further inspection fee is due provided the licence holder pays for their renewed licence before the old one expires.
	The GLA is committed to exploring ways of reducing the cost to new entrants to the forestry sector and is working closely with the industry on a pilot for a light-touch inspection regime for new applicants. This approach is considering a combination of background checks and earned recognition to reduce the need for an application inspection.
	The band D fees from April 2007 are set out below:
	
		
			 Year Licence fee for new applicants including inspection fee Licence fee for renewals 
			 2007-08 £2000 £400 
			 2009 onwards £2250 £400

Gilts

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of using low yields at the long end of the gilt market to issue more stock gilt maturities of over 20 years.

Lord Sassoon: The revision in April 2011 to the Debt Management Office's (DMO's) financing remit for 2011-12 sets out the Government's decision to issue £37.4 billion of long maturity1 conventional gilts in 2011-12, which represents 22.3 per cent of total planned issuance.
	The Government have also decided to issue £38.0 billion of index-linked gilts in 2011-12. The greater part of index-linked gilt sales will be of bonds with greater than 15 years' maturity.
	The context and rationale for the Government's decisions on the DMO's 2011-12 financing remit are set out in Annex B of the Debt and Reserves Management Report 2011-12 available here: http://cdn.hm-treasury. gov.uk/2011budget_debtreserves.pdf.
	1 Gilts with a residual maturity at sale of 15 years or longer.

Government Departments: Research and Data

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what research and data collection the Ministry of Defence has (a) initiated, (b) terminated, and (c) amended, since 12 May 2010.

Lord Astor of Hever: This information is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Government Departments: TV Sets

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government (a) how many television sets there are in the Cabinet Office, (b) what channels are received by them, and (c) how much is paid in licence and other fees or subscriptions.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government (a) how many television sets there are in 10, 11 and 12 Downing Street, (b) what channels are received by them, and (c) how much is paid in licence and other fees or subscriptions.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: 10, 11 and 12 Downing Street are an integral part of the Cabinet Office estate.
	Information on how many television sets there are in the Cabinet Office is not held centrally.
	As has been the case under successive Administrations the Cabinet Office central London estate is fed by the Palace of Westminster television feed, as well as receiving a mixture of terrestrial, Freeview and Sky channels.
	As has been the case under successive Administrations, the Cabinet Office has paid the following annual licence and other fees or subscriptions, subject to commercial price increases:
	TV licence-£4,365.00; and
	other fees, subscriptions-£11,165.26.
	Additionally, the National School of Government's residential training site at Sunningdale Park, Ascot is operated by De Vere Venues under the terms of a PFI contract which includes televisions. The national school pays inclusive delegate rates for its use of the facilities and thus is unable to identify any charges in respect of the provision of these televisions.

Government: Cabinet Committees

Lord Rogan: To ask Her Majesty's Government when an updated list of the memberships of Cabinet Committees will be published.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The list of the membership of Cabinet Committees is updated periodically and a revised list will be published shortly.

Government: Red Tape Challenge

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Verma on 17 May (WA 301), whether the Government consider that the Equality Act 2010 imposes unnecessary burdens on businesses, members of the public or voluntary organisations, or imposes unnecessary restrictions on personal freedoms.

Baroness Verma: As explained in the Written Answer to which the noble Lord refers, the Red Tape Challenge is asking members of the public, businesses and voluntary and community organisations about how the Equality Act 2010 is working in practice. We want to know whether the Act could be simplified, better implemented, if certain provisions should be dropped or amended, or whether it should be kept exactly as it is.
	We will consider its impact on business and others in light of comments received on the Red Tape Challenge website and through other contacts.

Health: E. coli

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they have taken to deal with the outbreak of E coli.

Earl Howe: I refer the noble Lord to the Written Statement I made to the House on 7 June 2011 (Official Report, col. WS 20).

Industrial Action

Lord Touhig: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many days were lost due to industrial action in (a) 2010, and (b) each of the preceding 20 years.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Medical Students: Non-EU Nationals

Lord Walton of Detchant: To ask Her Majesty's Government why they are proposing to limit the Medical Training Initiative for international medical graduates to one year; and whether they have assessed the effect of the proposal on medical manpower in the National Health Service.

Baroness Browning: The Medical Training Initiative is one of a number of approved schemes provided for within tier 5 of the points-based system, under the government authorised exchange category. In our consultation document Employment-Related Settlement, Tier 5 and Overseas Domestic Workers, published on 9 June, we are consulting on changes to tier 5. This includes a proposal to cap leave across the tier 5 temporary worker route-including all government authorised exchange schemes-in order to reinforce the intended temporary nature of this tier. The consultation invites views on this proposal. Any effect on medical manpower will be assessed in the light of responses to the consultation; however providing manpower to the National Health Service is not the principal purpose of the Medical Training Initiative.

Money: Supply

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether contracting the broad money supply is consistent with their economic objectives; and whether they propose to take action to stimulate growth in the broad money supply.

Lord Sassoon: The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England has operational responsibility for monetary policy. The MPC's objective is to maintain price stability. As restated by the Chancellor in June 2011, the MPC is required to achieve an inflation target of 2 per cent as measured by the 12-month increase in the consumer prices index. The MPC's policy instruments to achieve this target are the short-term interest rate, or bank rate, and quantitative easing, through the asset purchase facility.

National Enterprise Academy

Lord Harris of Haringey: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many learners have enrolled at the National Enterprise Academy since its inception; and how many of them have set up successful businesses as a direct result of the academy's efforts.

Baroness Wilcox: Three hundred and thirty-four learners have enrolled at the National Enterprise Academy (NEA) since its inception.
	A core requirement of the newly developed NEA Level 3 course in enterprise and entrepreneurship is for learners to set up their own business. To date 209 learners have undertaken this. The numbers of learners who have continued with their business after completion of their course is not currently tracked by the NEA.

Northern Ireland Office: Research and Data

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what research and data collection the Northern Ireland Office has (a) initiated, (b) terminated, and (c) amended since 12 May 2010.

Lord Shutt of Greetland: The Northern Ireland Office has not initiated, terminated or amended any research or data collection since 12 May 2010.

Northern Ireland: Human Rights Commission

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many interns have been employed in the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission in the last two years; what salaries or payments they have each received; and whether they were appointed within fair employment law guidelines.

Lord Shutt of Greetland: The appointment of staff is an operational matter for the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, which operates independently of government. The noble Lord may wish to write to the commission directly on this matter.

Patrick Finucane

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Shutt of Greetland on 24 May (WA 424), how their commitment to no more costly and open-ended public inquiries will be met in the case of Patrick Finucane.

Lord Shutt of Greetland: The Written Ministerial Statements of 11 November 2010 (Official Report, col. WS 22 and 23) and 11 January 2011 (Official Report, col. WS 197) clearly set out the factors the Government will consider in determining whether or not to hold a public inquiry in the Finucane case. The factors that the Government will be taking into account include consideration of the potential duration and cost of an inquiry.

Public Sector: Terms and Conditions

Lord Morris of Manchester: To ask Her Majesty's Government which public servants other than those in the Armed Forces contract with the state to lay down their lives if necessary in its service.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: I refer the noble Lord to my Answers of 7 December 2010 (Official Report, col. WA 27) and 23 May 2011 (Official Report, col. WA 373).

Railways: Franchises

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government what will be the effect on train operating companies of ending prescriptive requirements in rail franchising agreements, including restrictions on the freedom to develop timetables; and whether the arrangements for procuring new rolling stock will include "residual value" agreements in order to guarantee their continued use beyond the end of the proposed franchise term.

Earl Attlee: The reduction in prescription will put more decisions about precise timetables and calling patterns in the hands of train operators. This will improve decision-making, allowing passenger demand and operational factors to be taken into account.
	There are a number of mechanisms that can be used to provide guarantees that new rolling stock will be leased after the franchise period. The use of any guarantees will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Roads: Accidents

Baroness Smith of Basildon: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many road traffic incidents in which pedestrians have been injured have been reported involving (a) cyclists, and (b) motor vehicles (excluding bikes), and (c) motor bikes.

Earl Attlee: The information requested is published in tables 22 and 23 of Reported Road Casualties in Great Britain-Annual Report. The tables present data for 2009, the last year for which figures are currently available. The said report has been deposited in the Libraries of the House. The tables are also published on the Department for Transport's website at the following web link: http://www.dft.gov.uk/excel/173025/221412/221549/227755/503336/rcgb09tables21to40.xls.

Stateless People

Lord Avebury: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the average time taken to process applications to be recognised as a stateless person; how many such applications are pending; and on what date the earliest of those applications was submitted.

Baroness Browning: We have taken "stateless persons" applications to mean applications for a travel document. A person who is stateless may apply for a stateless persons travel document under the terms of the 1954 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons. This convention defines a stateless person as someone who is not considered a national by any country under the terms of its laws.
	The average time taken to process a stateless person's travel document application is 47 working days (9.4 weeks). The UK Border Agency processes 70 per cent of applications within 20 working days (four weeks), and 98 per cent within 70 working days (14 weeks). Applications to replace lost documents can take longer to process than normal applications, as the loss needs to be fully investigated.
	As of 7 June 2011, there were 18 applications pending. The earliest date on these applications was 20 May 2010.

UK Border Agency

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve the effectiveness of the UK Border Agency with respect to Northern Ireland.

Baroness Browning: We have a clear programme of work for Northern Ireland that is on track and delivering a wide range of new services to people who qualify to live, work or study in the UK and also to those who need our protection. We are returning better and better results in Northern Ireland and developing strong partnerships and intelligence systems with other law enforcement agencies on both sides of the Irish Sea and in Ireland to counter illegal immigration and organised immigration crime.
	Our new local immigration team is continuously strengthening our internal controls-the number of immigration offenders that we have detected in Northern Ireland so far this year has more than doubled on the number detected last year and we are working with Ireland to develop joint initiatives to cut out abuse and threats to the common travel area, including improved information sharing, closer visa rules and electronic border systems.
	Moreover we have supplemented our immigration enforcement capabilities by the creation of an immigration crime team to tackle organised immigration crime.